Draft appliance for railway cars



, W. J. REGAN ET AL DRAET APPLIANCE FOR RAILWAY CARS Feb. 28, 1 933.

2 Sheets-Sheet 1 I Filed Feb., 27, 1928 gmmfcoo I Feb. 28, 1933. w. J.REGAN ET AL DRAFT APPLIANCE FOR RAILWAY CARS Filed Feb. 27. 1928 2Sheets-Sheet 2 gmntoz Patented Feb. 28, 1933 "caries STATES.

WILLIAM J. REGAN, OF WILKINSBURG, AND ENOGH GEORGE,

PATENT warm, 0F PITTSBURGH,

PENNSYLVANIA, ASSIG-NORS 'TO THE MCCONWAY & TORLE'Y COMPANY, OE PITTS-BURGH, PENNSYLVANIA, A. CORPORATION OF PENNSYLVANIA DRAFT APPLIANCE FORRAILWAY CARS Application filed February 27, 1928. Serial No. 257,820.

Our invention relates to draft appliances for railway cars andparticularly to the provision of means for flexibly connecting the rearend of the coupler stem to a draft yoke by means of a key, theconstruction being such as to aiford large bearing surfaces for the keyand for the coupler in any positions the latter may occupy.

A further object of the invention is to provide a construction embodyinga standard yoke, thus rendering possible employment; if desired, of acoupler having a standard shank or barrel whenever it may becomenecessary to replace the coupler.

The principal feature of the invention consists in connecting a carcoupler with a slotted draft yoke by means of a key, a bearing blockwhich is adapted to cooperate with a cushioning device being mounted inthe yoke so as to move rearwardly with respect to the latter in bufiing,the forward face of the bearing block and the rear end of the couplerstem having cooperating curved surfaces permitting the coupler to anglelaterally with respect to the yoke, and the bearing block havingforwardly extending portions which overlappingly embrace opposite sidesof the stem of the coupler whenever the latter moves longitudinally withrespect to the block.

Other features of the invention, residing in advantageous forms ofconstruction. and particular relations of parts will hereinafter appearand be pointed out in the claim.

In the drawings, illustrating preferred embodiments of the invention:

Figure 1 is a view, partly in plan and partly in horizontal section, ofa portion of a railway draft appliance constructed in accordance withthe invention. the head of the car coupler and the rear portion of theyoke being omitted.

Figure 2 is a view, partly in vertical section and partly in elevation,of the construction shown in Figure 1. the re ation of the cushioningdevice to the mechanism being diagrammatically lllllStIELtGCr by dot anddash lines.

Figure 3 is a view corresponding to Figure l but illustrating a modifiedform of the in.- vention employing a horizontal yoke and whereinthe-rear bearing block is integrally united to theforward follower ofthe draft gear.

Figure 4: is a view partly in vertical section and partly in elevation,of the construction shown in Figure 3.

In the drawings, 1 indicates the stem of a 1 car coupler provided at itsrear end with a slot 2 for receiving a transversely extending key 3 bywhich the coupler is connected to the draft yoke 4 in a well knownmanner. The yoke, which has Vertically spaced arms 5 for receiving acushioning unit, as shown diagrammatically at 6 in Figure 2, ispreferably of the present American Railway Association standard design,being formed at its forward end with key slots 7 of sufficient shocks tothe cushioning unit in any angu larly displaced position the coupler mayoccupy. The block 10 is fioatingly mounted in the draft yoke and isprovided with forwardly extending portions 11 which overlappinglyembrace opposite sides of the coupler stem 1 when the parts are innormal posi-- tion. The forward extensions 11, whose out er faces 12 arepreferably inclined so as to converge forwardly in conformity toadjacent inclined surfaces 13 of the yoke, serve as guides to insure thereturn of the bearing block 10 to proper position in the event it shouldfloat rearwardlyagainst the forward follower or draft gear when thecoupler and yoke move outwardly under draft. The curved surface 9 of thefloating bearing block extends in advance of the rear ends of the keyslots 7 in the yoke when the parts are in normal position, ample bearingarea thus being afforded for the coupler, and the parts being enabledtobe made sufiiciently strong while at the same time of such dimensionsas will permit the substitution of a coupler hav ing a standard shank orbarrel in place of the special design of coupler and bearing block whenthe latter are not available.

In advance of the curved bearing surface 8 and concentric therewith, thecoupler shank 1 is fashioned on its interior with a curved bearingsurface 14 cooperating with a correspondingly curved surface on the rearside of a key seat member 16, the center of curvature of the severalcurved surfaces preferably being located approximately at the back edgeof the transverse key 3 or slightly rearwardly thereof in order to allowthe coupler to swing laterally through a considerable range withoutinterfering with the ends of the key seat member 16. To permit the keyseat member to be assembled with the coupler the key slot 2 in the shankof the latter is widened at its rear end, as indicated at 17. Theforward face of the key seat member is formed with a groove or channel18 corresponding in form tothe rear edge of the key and into which thelatter extends. By this means the connecting key 3 is enabled at alltimes when the coupler is subjected to draft to have full bearing on theyoke 4 and against the key seat member 16.

To assemble the construction shown in Figures 1 and 2, the bearing block10 at the rear of the coupler shank is inserted between the arms 5 ofthe yoke and pushed forward into the hooded rectangular section of theyoke. The draft gear or cushioning unit is then placed in the yoke andthese assembled parts are raised to place between the sills of the car.The key seat member or pivoted block 16 is then inserted through theenlarged portion 17 of the coupler key slot 2 and moved rearwardly untilits curved bearing surface 15 comes into engagement with thecorrespondingly curved surface 14 of the coupler. The coupler and thekey seatmember 16 are then assembled with the yoke 4 in position on thecar and the draft key 3 is inserted in the slots 2 and 7 of the couplerand yoke respectively.

In the form of the invention illustrated in Figures 3 and 4, the yoke 19is of the horizontal type, its arms 20 being in transverse alinement. Atits forward end the yoke is formed with slots 21 for receiving atransversely extending key 22 serving to connect the yoke to the couplerin a well known manner, the key preferably being of standard form andthe key slots 21 of the yoke extending rearwardly sufficiently far topermit the coupler to move with respect to the yoke for the full extentof its bufling travel. To the rear of the key slots 21 the arms 20 ofthe yoke are provided with oppositely disposed slots 23 corresponding inlength to the slots 21 and adapted to receive a transversely dis posedkey which extends through the slot 24 in a follower 25 positioned to therear of the car coupler.

The key (not shown) which extends through the slots 23 and 24 as well asthrough elongated slots in the draft sills of the car serves, in a wellknown manner, to limit forward movement of the follower 25 when thecoupler is subjected to draft forces. This key, like the key 22, ispreferably of standard form.

At its front end the follower 25, which will be recognized by thoseskilled in the art as of the Farlow type, is formed with a bearing blockportion 26 having a forwardly facing cylindrically curved surface 27with which the correspondingly curved rear end 8 of the coupler stem 1cooperates in bufing, the curved face 27 being preferably positioned inthe same manner as the bearing face 14 heretofore described. The bearingblock portion 26 has forward extensions 28 which overlappingly embraceopposite sides of the stem of the coupler so as to form guides insuringthe proper operative relation of the coupler and bearing block. Thecoupler l and key seat member 16 employed in this construction arepreferably of the same form as heretofore described and accordinglytheir structural features have been indicated by corresponding referencenumerals.

We claim:

In a draft rigging, the combination with a coupler; of a yoke having ahooded forward section, defined in part by upper and lower walls; ashock absorbing device hav ing front follower acting means; and meansdetachable from the yoke occupying each of the'spaces defined by thefront face of said follower acting means, top or bottom wall of the hoodsection, and corresponding opposed surface of the butt end of thecoupler shank, said removable means being held in relatively spacedrelation by said follower.

In testimony whereof they affix their signatures.

WILLIAM J. REGAN. ENOCH GEORGE, JR.

